When Shopping For a Cruise How Much Does the Age of The Ship Factor in Your Choice?

My GF and I are booked on a Panama Canal cruise this November and yes there were many choices as usual.

But this time the newness of the ship played a heavy factor in the decision process, thus we selected the NCL Bliss.

Yes the newest ship to sail this itinerary and but some people say it's itinerary over cruiseline/ship for preference but we digress and always look at "build date" or "refurbish date".

When we shop for any cruise the first thing she asks me is "is this a newer Ship"? I believe this stems back to a cruise we took with AZ many years ago and the condition of the ship has been permanently etched in her memory bank.

I will make a generalization with which others will likely disagree. We do not generally care much about a ship's age...and in fact, one of our favorite ships is the Prinsendam (soon to be sold). The generalization is that we think that many older and very experienced cruisers could care less about the age of a ship..but rather look at size (smaller is better), itinerary, and cruise line. But those in that crowd (including me) are not looking for wave riders, climbing walls, or all these other amenities that attract many younger or inexperienced cruisers. For us, we want a cruise...not a floating playground. If a ship delivers what we want and it happens to be new then that is often a good thing...but its not a major consideration.

Hank

I way many factors but the age of the ship is not one of them.

For us, almost nil. We first decide what sort of itinerary we're interested in, then choose which cruiseline will best supply that itinerary, while meeting our preferences in shipboard ambiance. At that point, our choice of ships is pretty small. For us, the winner would likely be the smallest of the finalists, not the newest. We've found that amongst our favorite lines, even their older ships are refurbished often enough to satisfy us.

I’m going to have to say not much since my last 2 cruises were exact opposites on one of NCL’s newest and Carnival’s oldest.

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The age of the ship for us is given Zero consideration. Our primary consideration is the cruise line, followed by itinerary.

We don't consider any of the mainstream lines and certainly not any of the new mega ships - not interested in sailing with 4,000 to 6,000 pax or wave riders, ice rinks, etc.

While our current cruise line has 5 ships that are all built in 2015 or later, we would be just as happy sailing on some of the excellent and classic liners of the 70's, if they were still in operation.

I consider age as a minor factor, older ships tend to be smaller which normally means less entertainment which is a very big factor in us picking a cruise. We love rccl cruises

Ships that have ice show if you say you are not interested I am sure you never went to one, I did not think it would be a big thing but ice skaters are Olympic type talent .

Add me to the "age doesn't factor in" group.

Age matters to me in that I much prefer the smaller ships and they don't make them anymore for the larger, less expensive cruise lines. (We are 5-star on HAL and Elite on Princess). Some of our best cruises were on Ocean Princess (since sold) and Prinsendam (sold and leaving HAL next July). It is surprising that the newest ships have the smallest rooms. For example, our last cruise was on the fairly new Majestic Princess. A balcony cabin had one small chair in the room, so if you wanted to eat in the room, someone had to sit on the bed. As a contrast, an inside cabin on the 18 year old Amsterdam has a loveseat and coffee table. We had to get a mini suite on the Majestic to get the same room amenities as an inside cabin on the older Amsterdam.

I prefer newer ships and have recently cruised several on CCL and NCL. We'll be sailing the MSC Seaside in a few weeks to see how that new build experience will be.

I stopped sailing some of the older ships like Carnival's Fantasy Class a dozen years ago because I thought those ships were old and outdated then. I can't imagine even accepting a free offer to cruise on something so decrepit. JMO, YMMV.

zero impact whatsoever. not even on board amenities are a huge deal, although if price is comparable we will go with the ship that has more amenities we would use.

we have found even older ships with fewer bells and whistles are maintained quite well.

My selection process is always itinerary, price, then ship. The ship is just “room and board” for me and not the destination. That may change in the future but there’s still so many places in the world that I want to see.

Age of the ship isn't a big deal, but if the ship I'm considering is older, I do read reviews to ensure that passengers aren't experiencing a lot of issues (e.g., HVAC problems or plumbing problems in cabins).

Like many others who've posted already, I prefer smaller ships and interesting itineraries. I like good food but don't particularly care about onboard entertainment -- a little live music, the occasional show and a good lecturer are fine for me on ships with intensive itineraries.

I only cruise the Caribbean very occasionally. (Did a lot of Carib cruises in my early cruising days and things have changed too much....) If I was going to the Caribbean, I might make some different choices regarding the ship -- but still would not necessarily want the "newest" ship.

The age of the ship doesn't matter much to us. We look at itinerary, time of year and price. We do have certain cruise lines we prefer, but even that is not too important to us.

We actually prefer some of the older ships that still have a full promenade--one of our favorite things to do is walk there.

We haven't gone on one of RCL's mega ships yet but probably will sometime just to experience it, or if traveling with younger family members. Otherwise we don't care for their itineraries in the Caribbean or the fact that they are usually only 7 day cruises.

The only older ships I would not consider are the ones who run shorter cruises (read: Bahamas.) Like others have said, the itinerary and the features YOU will use are the most important considerations.

ALL other things being equal, I suppose I would look to a newer ship as there is some likelihood of its being in better overall condition. But, it is unlikely that ALL other things would be equal: newer ships are likely to be larger, have more bells and whistles, and look more like apartment buildings than ships. Generally, the older ships out there have more of what I prefer.

None to use either! We've been on several Royal cruises including Monarch and Oasis also NCL Dawn and Getaway. We've done large ships and small and enjoyed them all. Large ships have tons to do... smaller ships seem to give more personal service. Haven't been on a bad cruise yet!

We have never considered age of the ship. We do look at size and options.

matters 100% above all to my husband. He has respiratory allergies galore, so it's important for him to have a newer ship with less dust and dirt. He doesn't care about anything else.

for me it's 25/25/25/25 split between the age of the ship, quality/variety of food and activities, price and destination ports. I am the one who pays and makes choices anyway.

Age of the ship has no bearing when it comes to us choosing a cruise.

Years ago we went on the Millennium right after it's initial sailing. This was our second cruise ever, we were on the Mercury the year before. Mercury, was much older. But between the two, it won hands down. No issues with staff or mechanical. Millennium had a water pipe break and water was coming through the ceiling in some common areas. The 'sewage smell' was very common and the staff was still figuring things out and so on. We still had a great time!

Newer ships can also have problems. I agree that whatever ship you decided on, it helps to check reviews on how things are going. If you book far in advance, you might want to keep tabs on how things are going as well.

I care about where we are going. I would pick the older ships because I do not want to be on a ship with 5000 people, older is ok with me, I am older too :)

I will make a generalization with which others will likely disagree. We do not generally care much about a ship's age...and in fact, one of our favorite ships is the Prinsendam (soon to be sold). The generalization is that we think that many older and very experienced cruisers could care less about the age of a ship..but rather look at size (smaller is better), itinerary, and cruise line. But those in that crowd (including me) are not looking for wave riders, climbing walls, or all these other amenities that attract many younger or inexperienced cruisers. For us, we want a cruise...not a floating playground. If a ship delivers what we want and it happens to be new then that is often a good thing...but its not a major consideration.

 

Hank

+1 Saved me typing. (However you neglected to mention Big Game Hunting, Hot Air Balloon Riding, and Crosscountry skiing.)

Hi,

Being disabled the newer the ship the better the disabled facilities which is a massive factor for me.

A lot,because we love older and smaller ships.